Scott Jones, Newham and East London Socialist Party
War and carnage continues apace and the only thing changing is the escalating chaos and number of people being killed. Horror in the news is now a daily sight.
In its first financial year in power the Labour government in Westminster is set to spend £57.1 billion on ‘defence’ – aka military spending and funding war. That’s 4.5% more than even the Tories spent the previous year.
Meanwhile, working-class people hit by the two-child benefit cap or pensioners affected by the cut to winter fuel payments are ignored and demonised. Public sector workers who ask for their pay to keep up with the cost of living are told no and schools, the NHS and other services are underfunded.
Wars are only spreading and governments claim they need to spend more to wage them. But when Keir Starmer and Joe Biden send ships and jets to the Middle East, they aren’t concerned about ordinary people. They are concerned about protecting the strategic and profit interests of the bosses in their own countries. Capitalist competition only stokes division as well as hoarding and squandering resources, leaving us to fight over the scraps.
The world is increasingly chaotic and riven by conflict, and a section of the capitalist class profits from the destruction and devastation. Increased arms spending won’t make the world any safer. The people of Gaza, Lebanon and elsewhere will still be bombed and killed, but it will make a few super-rich bosses wealthier.
What all this money sloshing around does show is that there is money for the alternative. An alternative that meets the needs of all and building a world free from war and poverty. Big businesses and the banks that dominate the economy should be nationalised under democratic workers’ control and management, the arms industry too. A democratic plan, drawn up by the working class, could ensure the needs of all are met, including protecting the environment.
We need to fight for a socialist world. Join the Socialist Party to get involved fighting for a socialist future.
